Stephanie O'Neill

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Scientists, patient advocates and doctors are at a conference in Oakland this weekend, sharing a resurgence in research on the use of LSD and other hallucinogenic drugs as medicine.

The healing potential of psychedelic drugs on hard-to-treat conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and end of life anxiety is driving a resurgence of studies worldwide that are being discussed here.

Among those attending is Nick Reeves, a third-year psychiatry resident at UCLA who’s interested in studies that show the potential of psychedelics in treating addiction. Reeves hopes by the time he’s in practice, government bans on therapeutic and medical use of psychedelics will be on the way out.

"These substances apparently have no medical value according to the DEA and federal government, which is clearly not the case as has been demonstrated by all these studies," Reeves said. "They have tremendous potential value medically. Hopefully, as this research progresses, that will change."

The weekend seminar will be followed by a session Monday in which researchers will delve into methodology and scientific issues involving psychedelic drug studies.